As Canada’s startup ecosystem continues to evolve, some entrepreneurs are hungry to build and lead massive, world-changing companies. Among these entrepreneurs is our latest #BetaKit1on1 speaker, Mike Serbinis. In the video below, the founder and CEO of League speaks about what he thinks Canada’s tech ecosystem needs more of: wins.

Even though Serbinis is currently busy disrupting the health insurance industry with League, he says the best day of being an entrepreneur was when he launched new productsand devices for his last company, Kobo, for a huge audience in August 2013.

“We were launching a ton of new devices, a ton of new content, with partners, the heads of all the major publishers. We had it all,” said Serbinis. “I was just about to vomit, and I didn’t know what I was thinking. But luckily, I held it together, got up on stage, and nailed it.”

“To me, what’s important and what we just need more of is winning. We need more wins.”
– Mike Serbinis

For entrepreneurs who also want to disrupt an industry, Serbinis says the hardest part about turning their ideas into an actual company is simply taking the first step.

“Beyond that first moment where you have inspiration and you have this vision of what the future looks like, the toughest moment is actually just taking the first step. That is the hardest step,” says Serbinis.

On what Canada needs in order to build those massive, disruptive companies, Serbinis says the country needs more wins. “To me, what’s important and what we just need more of is winning. We need more wins. So the best thing that I can do for the ecosystem, for the sector, or the economy…is just deliver another massive win,” says Serbinis, adding that this is exactly what he wants to achieve through League, which secured a $25 million USD in a Series A round last year, and is looking to add another $100 million by 2018.

But while Serbinis is making a call for more wins, he cautions that this can only happen when entrepreneurs have the “will to win.”

“The will to win is everything, and what I would suggest to young entrepreneurs is that will to keep going, and to stay in the game, and to get up when you’ve been knocked down is the most important thing,” says Serbinis.

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Amira Zubairi is a staff writer and content creator at BetaKit with a strong interest in Canadian startup, business, and legal tech news. In her free time, Amira indulges in baking desserts, working out, and watching legal shows.